


Kissing on Multiple Planes of Reality

by defenestration_optional



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Band Fic, Basement Gerard Way, Dreams, Dreams vs. Reality, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gerard Way is a Sweetheart, M/M, Punk Frank Iero, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 09:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30137664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defenestration_optional/pseuds/defenestration_optional
Summary: Gerard Way is seventeen (or maybe 26) and there's someone he misses, someone he really loved, but he'll see him again. Or will he? Will they ever meet again, or are they already together? And who's that in the mirror?
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Kissing on Multiple Planes of Reality

“What the fuck is that thing?” Gerard’s friend Frank asked, reaching for the finger trap on top of some of Gerard’s books. Gerard let him take it, not telling him what it was, and laughing to himself as Frank put his finger in it and couldn’t get it out.

“Hey,” Frank quickly grew wary of the odd contraption, “HEY, what…” Gerard put his own finger in the other side, still laughing. Frank tugged at it, but obviously couldn’t get his finger out. 

“What, I’m just, like, attached to you now?” Frank asked, his finger turning white. Gerard opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again. “Isn’t this a fire hazard?” Frank added. Gerard laughed out loud and then realized it probably was. 

“Here, you have to relax your hand and let it come off. It’s a finger trap,” Gerard explained. Frank recoiled a bit at Gerard’s touch, but smiled at how gentle he was. Many afternoons were spent there, doing dumb things in Gerard’s dark basement bedroom instead of their homework, which was what they would tell their parents they were going to do. Maybe they were best friends. Gerard had other friends, and he had never thought of it that way, but he was teased for being too close to Frank. He didn’t understand it. But what is there to understand about bullying? That’s how he justified it, at least. This day in particular, he had set out the finger trap because he knew how dumb Frank could be. He thought it was funny. 

“Where did you…” Frank trailed off. Gerard was going to say “what?” but then he noticed Frank looking at him this certain way. His heart started racing. Both pairs of eyes darted around nervously. Gerard let out a shaky breath. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, piss-bucket, are you quite alright?” Someone asked. Gerard reflexively sat bolt upright, the sound of the bar flooding back into his ears. It was his brother. 

“Hi. Mikey. I was just… thinking,” Gerard rubbed his face. Mikey didn’t say anything for a moment. 

“Well honestly, I’m just impressed. It’s very hard to nap here,” he said, adjusting his glasses. 

“I wasn’t- I just, I’m tired,” Gerard reached for a glass that was close to him, realizing just in time that it was someone else’s drink. 

“You uh… sang… good?” Mikey had to talk at increased volume over the noise of the place, “I don’t know the right words to say. I don’t know the singing words.” Gerard scoffed at him. 

“Who’s playing now?” Gerard asked without so much as a “thank you.” 

“Um. LeATHERMØUTH, I believe is what they’re called,” Mikey answered. 

“Oh. They sound decent, I think.”

“Yeah.”

Gerard watched and listened in silence for about a minute before he noticed the strangely familiar face of the lead singer. For the life of him, though, he couldn’t figure out who it was. He told Mikey he’d be back some time, and got closer to the stage to get a better look. The guy’s sweaty hair was in his face, making it slightly even more difficult to tell, but eventually the lightbulb turned on in Gerard’s head. Oh my god, he thought to himself, Frank. It’s Frank. From high school. And he’s hot now. Jesus. He just stood there by himself listening for a while, so engrossed that when when the band was finished, he just stayed standing there. He had a moment of panic because he had forgotten to see where Frank went, but he saw him slip around a corner just in time. Gerard drew in a breath, psyching himself up, and began to make his way back wherever Frank had gone. After an amount of labyrinth-navigating, Gerard found himself in the back door, looking out at the parking lot. 

“Hey,” a voice said. It was Frank’s, but deeper and clearer. Gerard looked down at him sitting on the dirty steps. He had a cigarette between his fingers and he was looking at Gerard like he didn’t recognize him, but he’d said hello because they were the only ones there. 

“Frank?” Gerard asked quietly, hearing his own voice as that chubby kid Frank knew. Frank did a double take. 

“Gerard?” Frank spoke again in that upgraded version of the voice Gerard had known. Gerard smiled. 

“You got all pretty,” Frank blurted out, “I mean-“ Gerard just stood there and scratched the back of his neck. 

“Can I sit down?” He asked eventually. Frank nodded, relieved by the broken silence. Gerard sat down next to him, not too far away so as to avoid blocking the stairs entirely. 

“You… We’re both in bands I guess. That’s funny,” Frank said. Not any less awkward. 

“Yes! I, um, heard… You were good,” Gerard was so excited to talk to Frank again, ”Wait, you heard me?”

“Yeah… Let me just say, wow,” Frank raised his eyebrows in an expression that said far more than his words. Gerard sort of laughed. Frank took a drag. Gerard thought he would have so much more to say. 

“Wanna go back inside?” He suggested. Frank nodded and put his cigarette out, dropping it off the side of the steps. They rose slowly, and Frank ran up the stairs ahead of Gerard, tripping and falling almost instantly. Gerard crouched down reflexively, asking if he was alright. 

“No, I- Fuck,” Frank had cut open the knee of his jeans but fortunately only scratched his own knee, “It’s okay though. I’m fine.” Gerard looked at it skeptically. Frank sighed. 

“You should at least put a band aid on it,” Gerard suggested. 

“I don’t just fucking have one.”

“I do.”

“Oh,” Frank looked on as Gerard got a band aid out of his back pocket, “Why do you just have a band aid in your pocket?” Gerard laughed under his breath, ripping the paper from the band aid. 

“Mikey,” he answered. 

“Who?” Frank asked, and then hissed as Gerard pulled his jeans away from the scrape. 

“Oh, my brother,” Gerard carefully put the band aid on Frank’s knee, making sure it was in the right place. 

“Oh right, oh yeah! Mikey,” Frank laughed fondly. Gerard smiled and sat back down. 

“Let’s not go back in,” he said decisively. When Frank didn’t answer, Gerard turned to look at him. He was staring at Gerard and by the looks of it he had been for a while. When Gerard looked at him though, he looked away. Gerard cleared his throat and tucked his hair behind his ear. 

“Sorry,” Frank said quietly, and almost guiltily. A silence. “Hey remember what Jarrod wrote about you on the bathroom wall?”

“WHY would you bring that up?” Gerard laughed, remembering vividly and holding back a grimace, “They were mean. Don’t be like them. Don’t be mean. They were very mean,” he added seriously. 

“I would never be like them.. I would never say those things about you,” Frank said cautiously. 

“No. You’re right. You were never like them. Actually, you were the reason they called me a fa-“ Gerard was interrupted by Frank covering his mouth, knowing what he was going to say and laughing and shushing him and quite nearly blushing. No one talked then. They looked out at the parking lot. 

“It came true,” Gerard whispered in Frank’s ear. Frank turned towards him sharply, his eyes wide. Gerard looked down, embarrassed. Frank laughed awkwardly, thinking maybe that was meant to be his response. Gerard picked at the skin on his thumbs. 

“You used to make me so happy,” Gerard said quietly, really meaning it. 

“We can be friends again,” Frank comforted, sounding again like he was as young as Gerard remembered him. Gerard opened his mouth and then closed it disappointedly. He thought everything Frank did was adorable, but he just coughed and looked at his shoes. There was some stuttering and beginning of sentences that were never completed. When he looked back at Frank out of the corner of his eye, he was looking at him that same way he had stared before. Gerard felt his own heart beat. He nodded, hoping something would happen, expecting that to translate as some kind of consent. Apparently it did. Frank swooped in and kissed Gerard. He kissed him, he really did. Gerard gasped, but kissed back as soon as he could process what was happening. Frank’s hand rested on the cold layers of fabric on Gerard’s shoulder. Gerard felt amazing. 

“I’m sorry, are you sure you-“ Frank started, drawing away, but Gerard just kissed him harder, which he guessed would answer Frank’s question. It definitely did. Gerard pushed him against the dirty, sticker and graffiti-covered railing. Eventually they both ran out of breath. 

“I can’t believe we never did that,” Gerard muttered. Frank fidgeted with the edge of his shirt. 

“Heh, I-“ he began awkwardly, as Gerard stared at his lips.

“Can I kiss you again?” Gerard asked, breaking the silence with exactly what Frank wanted to hear. 

“Please,” and they crashed together again. It didn’t feel real, all of a sudden. It was all sort of spiraling. Gerard couldn’t feel Frank anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gerard gasped, waking up to the familiar sight of his gloomy, off-white ceiling and the vague moonlight from some window. He didn’t usually wake up so abruptly. What a strange dream. Oh man. Well, his subconscious sure was optimistic. Man, Frank is cute. That would be a nice future. Still fucking seventeen. 

He sat up, yawning. He turned to the mirror on the other side of his room, only his room didn’t look quite right. Him in the mirror absolutely did not look quite right. There was someone in his bed next to him, and it wasn’t quite his bed, and that really wasn’t him in the mirror. He screamed, pulling the blankets up to his chest because he wasn’t wearing a shirt. The person stirred. 

“What’s wrong?” They asked. It was Frank. It was Frank! The Frank with the deep, clear voice; this wasn’t his room, he wasn’t seventeen… 

“Jesus Christ you’re real,” Gerard whimpered. Frank looked more concerned. He sat up slightly. 

“What’s wrong, baby?” Frank asked. Gerard melted. “Baby.” He remembered now. 

“It’s… Oh my god… You’re… Sorry, I had the weirdest dream,” he mumbled. 

“What time is it?” Frank asked, stretching and then falling back down. Gerard didn’t move. He said he didn’t know.

“Well, okay, I’m asking you to check,” Frank grew only more wary of Gerard’s strange behavior. Gerard didn’t respond. He was in a trance. Frank laughed awkwardly because he wouldn’t move. 

“Do I kiss you?” Gerard inquired genuinely. 

“What, in general? Yeah. We’re sleeping together,” Frank laughed. He really was that cute. Gerard marveled.

“Can I kiss you NOW?” He asked politely. 

“Yeah,” Frank said again. Gerard immediately pounced on him, kissing him hard. He got even more excited when Frank kissed back, and he indulged heavily in what was to Frank commonplace. 

“Okay, calm down,” Frank chuckled, “What the fuck kind of dream did you have?” Gerard sat up again, breathing heavily. 

“I had a dream… You were… Sorry. I dreamt that I was seventeen and I was having a dream that I was the age I am now, and I hadn’t seen you since high school and… we kissed,” Gerard explained, “And it was like I hadn’t seen  
you since high school. Even after I woke up. Does that make sense?” 

“For the most part... Not really.”

“Have I said that I love you?”

“No.”

“Oh… I think I do. I love you,” Gerard really, really did. Frank got all sentimental. 

“Me too,” he smiled, “I thought that you weren’t ever gonna say that because you…”

“What?”

“Never mind,” Frank muttered. They just looked at each other for a moment. 

“God I’m so lucky. I hope this isn’t a dream,” Gerard said, not even laughing. 

“Me too,” Frank reciprocated, “Just… come here.” Gerard did. He fell on Frank again, his head on his shoulder. 

“This is so great,” Gerard announced, making Frank burst out laughing,”What?? This is perfect: You’re real.”


End file.
